70 CE – KabbalahSecrets.com

The Mystery of the 1000 Generations

Aisha Torah published this excellent devrai Torah, but we wanted to add a couple notes to help clear up this Talmudic mystery, paradox if you will. We bring this matter up, because we are soon to write about the Erev Rav and their ties to the dating of the final redemption, and some have suggestion that the 974 generations mentioned in Mishna of the 1000 mentioned in Psalms are the original Erev Rav (we’ll get into that in another article).

As you’ll see profoundly discussed below and excerpted from Psalms 105:8-10, there are supposed to be 1000 generations (“He commanded to a thousand generations, the covenant which He made with Abraham, and his oath to Isaac. And confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant.” )

There are also supposed 974 generations created before creation, as excerpted from Chagiga 14, “Rabbi Shimon the Pious said: “These are the nine hundred and seventy four generations who pressed themselves forward to be created before the world was created….”

Readers of this blog and The Divine Calendar know that (1000 -974) = 26 and that in all probability these 26 generations are the 26 generations from Adam to Moses when the Torah was revealed, fulfilling the statement above. but this is only a partial answer.

We also know that the Covenant of Abraham was made in 2018 HC, 70 years after his birth in 1948 and that Israel became a nation in 1948 CE, 70 years before the fulfillment of the Zohar’s prophesy on 2018 CE (5778 HC) when Rav Yehuda Halevi Ashlag advised the Tree-of-life reality would be manifest.

So now let’s look at what was hidden in the 974 generations. First off, it is half 1948, or in other words 974 x 2 years = 1948. And as we learned in our recent article on Miketz and the Final Redemption, the Arizal advised us that “2 years (which Joseph spent in prison) was a hidden secret of when the journey to Moshiach would begin and end. He advised in was in 1976 CE, or as we saw, 42 years before 2018, also give by the gematria of 2 years (ShNTYM YMYM).

It’s simple math that reveals that (1000 + 974 + 2 years) = 1976, and also that (1000 + 974 – 26 years) = 1948, so it would appear there are indeed hidden codes given to us by King David in Psalms and Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai of blessed memory.

Since everything in creation was created in two parts, we see that 974 years is exactly half the period to the birth of Abraham, and also exactly half the period from the destruction of the Second Holy Temple in 70 CE to 2018 CE (1948/2 years).

We know also, as previously discussed that time is not statics and was greatly compressed in first few days before Adam’s creation and in the 2000 years that the Torah existed before Creation, easily accounting for the 974 generations. Nevertheless, lets say we take the paradox literally, and see how many generations there are until 5778 from the birth of Moses (the 26th generation), in order to complete the 1000 generations. As it turns out from 2368 (Moses’ birth) to 5778, there are precisely 974 generations of 3.5 (three and a half) years.

What is this end of days prophecy is this reminiscent of?

“time, times, and half a time” from Daniel 12:7

And

1290 days = 3.5 years from Daniel 12:11

So there you have it. There is no real paradox unless you want to take the Torah, Mishna, Tanakh completely literally and disregard what our sages knew that days, months, years, 1000’s and generations are interchangeable reflections of the same spiritual concept. Once you grasp that, you can begin to grasp the reality of the Tree-of-life where there are no physical limitations or illusions.

Happy Chanukah!

From Aisha Torah:

Bereishit(Genesis 1:1-6:8)

The First Man

In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And a wind from God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light;” and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. (Genesis 1:1-5)

With these epic words, the Torah, and indeed the world, begins. The beginning is clouded in mystery, perhaps allegory and allusion. The Mishna (Chagiga 11b) dissuades even the sage from attempting to penetrate the unfathomable.¹ Nonetheless, there are hints about the dawn and predawn — or perhaps the term should be twilight — of creation in our tradition.² When commenting on this Mishna, the Talmud makes an obscure reference:

Rabbi Shimon the Pious said: “These are the nine hundred and seventy four generations who pressed themselves forward to be created before the world was created, but were not created. The Holy One, blessed be He, arose and planted them in every generation, and it is they who are the insolent of each generation.” (Chagiga 13b-14a)³

There are those who were created, yet not created, who were “pressed” or contracted, and placed into future generations.⁴ Rashi explains this passage by presenting a verse in Psalms:⁵

He has remembered His covenant forever, the word He commanded to a thousand generations, the covenant which He made with Abraham, and his oath to Isaac. And confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant. (Psalms 105:8-10)

A cursory reading of this verse might lead to the understanding that the Torah is of limited scope and efficacy, for the verse speaks of a “mere” thousand generations. Rashi, however, explains that the Torah was given, not for a thousand generations, but to the thousandth generation. One could have simply attributed the term to vernacular usage and metaphor, citing other poetic uses of the “thousand years” or “thousand generations” coin of speech:

* * *

A THOUSAND

“A thousand” is used in a verse in Ecclesiastes describing the futility of man’s aspirations:

And though he live one thousand years twice told, yet has he seen no good; do not all go to one place? All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled. (Ecclesiastes 6:6-7)

While we know that God transcends time, the Psalmist nonetheless utilizes this same “thousand” expression to describe Divine time:

A Prayer of Moses, the man of God: Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, before you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. You turn man back to dust; and say, ‘Turn back, O children of men!’ For a thousand years in your sight are but like yesterday when it is past, and like a watch in the night. (Psalms 90:1-4)

Apparently, Rashi did not want to allow the possibility of a misunderstanding, of the suggestion that the Torah has an expiration date — a “shelf life” of one thousand generations. Therefore, Rashi explains that the verse means the word of God was commanded to the “thousandth generation.”⁶

Rashi did not want to allow the possibility of a misunderstanding that the Torah has an expiration date.

Saying that the Torah was given to the thousandth generation does solve the problem of suggesting that the Torah is limited. On the other hand, a separate problem is presented: When one counts the generations in the Torah from Adam until Moses, far less than a thousand are enumerated. In fact, according to tradition, the Torah was given to the 26^th generation.⁷

Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said: “To what do these twenty-six [verses of] ‘Give thanks’ correspond? To the twenty-six generations which the Holy One, blessed be He, created in His world; though He did not give them the Torah, He sustained them by His love.” (P’sachim 118a)

If the Torah was given to the thousandth generation, yet only twenty-six generations are discernible, nine-hundred seventy-four generations are “missing.” This, according to Rashi, is the lesson of the Talmud.

* * *

CREATED BUT NOT CREATED

According to this approach, both formulations are true: The Torah was given both to the thousandth generation and to the twenty-sixth generation. The solution lies in those who were “created but not created” before the world came into existence.

While this solution works mathematically, the theological implications seem challenging. The passage from the Talmud offered as an “explanation” is difficult to understand.

These are the nine hundred and seventy four generations who pressed themselves forward to be created before the world was created, but were not created. The Holy One, blessed be He, arose and planted them in every generation, and it is they who are the insolent of each generation. (Chagiga 13b-14a)

Were these people created or not? The entire passage seems paradoxical.

NOTES

The [subject of] forbidden relations may not be expounded in the presence of three, nor the work of creation in the presence of two, nor [the work of] the chariot in the presence of one, unless he is a sage and understands of his own knowledge. Whosoever speculates upon four things, a pity for him! He is as though he had not come into the world, [to wit], what is above, what is beneath, what before, what after. And whosoever takes no thought for the honor of his Maker, it were a mercy if he had not come into the world. (Chagiga 11b) (return to text)
The Torah describes the creation as twilight:
And there was evening and there was morning, one day. (return to text)
The Talmud in Shabbat also makes reference to these 974 generations:
R. Joshua b. Levi also said: “When Moses ascended on high, the ministering angels spoke before the Holy One, blessed be He: ‘Sovereign of the Universe! What business has one born of woman amongst us?’ ‘He has come to receive the Torah,’ answered He to them. Said they to Him, ‘That secret treasure, which has been hidden by Thee for nine hundred and seventy-four generations before the world was created.'” (Shabbat 88b) (return to text)
According to mystical tradition recorded in the Sefer HaBahir section 195, the souls of the 974 wicked generations are transmigrated into new bodies, who are then judged for deeds performed in the previous life. This is the Bahir’s explanation for theodicy. However, based on the Bahir’s context it sounds as if these people are presently righteous, while the Talmudic version makes these people sound presently wicked. See notes of Rav Reuven Margoliot in the Mosad Harav Kook edition, for other references in Kabbalistic literature. (return to text)
Rashi is based on Kohelet Rabba 1:35. (return to text)
This explanation is aided by the verse which follows:
And confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant. (Psalms 105:10) (return to text)
See Berishit Rabbah 1:4, 1:10, 21:9, Vayikra Rabba 9:3, Midrash Rabbah – The Song of Songs 2:6,5:13:
The mystics saw great significance in the Torah being given to the 26th generation, the number 26 is the numerical equivalent of the Divine name: Yud=10, heh=5, vav=6, heh=5 — equaling 26. (return to text)

The 3 Columns of History.

The Torah always presents information to us with great built in redundancy, so it’s not the Torah’s fault if we’re slow on the uptake. For example, did you ever wonder why there were 70 family members who entered Egypt and began the 210 years of exile there while they grew to 600,000? Or why Moses and his siblings had to pass the Torah on to 70 Elders before it could be given to the people, also 600,000 at the time. And you probably didn’t realize that Noah’s sons had 70 named descendants in the Torah, which eventually populated the world.

Ok, so what?

So if the Torah is expressing a distinctive pattern, it’s our obligation to try and figure out why, what he message is. This is the Sod Torah, the secret chambers of the Torah that house the deepest wisdom.

The pattern:

Noach (1) – his 3 sons – 70 descendants

Adam (1) – 3 Patriarchs – 70 family members

G-s (1) – 3 Moses/Aaron/Miriam – 70 Elders

1 -3 -70

The Tree-of-life comes to mind right away:

Keter

Binah – Da’at – Chochma

Gevurah -Chesed

Tiferet

Hod -Netzach

Yesod

Malchut

thus:

1 (Keter)

3 Upper Sefirot

70 Subsefirot of 7 sefirot of Zeir Anpin/Malchut

By the way, the 70 sub-sefirot are naturally bundled this way; it wasn’t some convenient arrangement of ours.

Then, of course, there is 137, the numerical gematria value of Kabbalah, meaning both to receive and also parallel, as in parallel meaning and parallel universe.

As my friend Mordechai pointed out, 1-3-70 is also 1370 as in the 1370 that Chazal tells us the Moslems were to rule over the Jews in merit of their forefather Ishmael (10 years for each of the 137 of his life), which incidentally ended on June 8th, 2002, 1370 years after the death of Mohammad in 632 CE.

Then there is 1 x 3 x 70 = 210 years of exile in Egypt.

Of course, Keter is 1, but it’s also 100 and 100 + 70 + 3 = 173, as in the 173 keys that the Zohar tells us G-d gave to Moses to access Heaven, and allusion to the small gematria value of the 42-Letter Name of G-d, 173.

Let’s put that aside for the moment and see where the 3 column structure of the Tree-of-life takes us. The Arizal explains that all history is based on cycles of the coupling of Zeir Anpin and Malchut (in it’s most simplistic form, Heaven and Earth). These cycles include the 3 times of the day (corresponding to the 3 sets of daily prayers); the 7 days of the weeks; 12 months in a year He further states that in the grand cycle, the destruction of the Second Temple in 3830 HC heralded the end of the coupling of Zeir Anpin and Malchut, which will reoccur in the time of the Third Temple. Interestingly, the Second Temple was destroyed in 70 CE, and the first Temple was destroyed in 3338 HC, or -422 CE, which is germane because 422 is the gematria value of the word seventy (70).

Now, since the 2nd of the 3 periods (columns) of history ended in 3830, if this first 2 periods were split down the middle, each would be 1915 years long. I haven’t found any biblical events that match the year 1915, but Abraham was born 33 years later in 1948.

And similarly, 3830 + 1915 (or alternatively 1915 x 3 periods) = 5745 (1985 CE), which is 33 years before 5778, the year prophesied by Rav Ashlag, etc. for the geula (final redemption) and the arrival of Moshiach and the 3rd Tree-of-life opportunity.

Nevertheless, we know that the 70 years of King David’s life is tied into the whole Mashiach calendar and that the midpoint of his life in 2889 HC is exactly halfway between Adam (0) and Moshaich in 5778 HC, and so we should see see how his life compares with the 3 periods of 1915 years. As it happens, half way between the first 1915 year period and the the second at 3830 is the year 2872 and half of 33 years later is 2889, alternatively David was born 33/2 years before 2872 in 2854 HC.

So why the 33 years?

Is it because it’s 1/3 of 100 (keter)? Or because it’s 1 more than the 32 Paths of Wisdom (Tree-of-life). Or is it something deeper, some link/path/gateway that G-d wants us to find on our own. After all, the square root of 33 is 57.45, as in 3 x 1915 = 5745.

Couldn’t be, right? Square roots factoring into G-d’s Divine calendar?

Well, maybe, considering that the square root of 1370 = 37.01, and the gematria value of the 42-Letter Name is 3701. And speaking of the 42-Letter Name, whose small gematria value if you recall was 173, the square root of 3 is 1.73.

Nevertheless, 33 is 2/3 or .666 of the 50-year biblical jubilee year, which the Torah commands us (starting back in 2448 HC at Mt Sinai) to count, until the arrival of Moshiach 3330 (66.6 jubilee) years later.

Now the Divine Calendar is so designed so that Abraham would be born in 1948 HC, and Israel would become a nation in 1948 CE and that 1948 years after the destruction of the Second Temple in 3830, we’d get the 3rd opportunity for the Tree-of-life reality in 5778, which is 2018 CE, 70 years after Israel became a nation, just as it was 70 years after Abraham was born in 1948, that G-d made his Covenant with Abraham (in 2018 HC).

But if that isn’t enough, it was also so designed so that the square root of the year the First Holy Temple was destroyed, 3338 is 57.78, and moreover that the square root of 5778 is 76.0 and 76.6 jubilee years is 3830, when the Second Holy Temple was destroyed.

So G-d had a plan for us all along, and a time table, a very specific one it seems, down to the square roots, so let’s take another look at the 1-3-70 progression. And it turns out that the sum of their respective square roots is 11.1, as in the numerical value of the 1st Hebrew Letter, Alef (ELP), 111, which leads us back to 1 (One). But as for the progression and the cyclical coupling of Zeir Anpin and Malchut, the Arizal explains that the 600,000 Jewish souls at Mt Sinai can trace their soul root back through the 70 members through the 12 sons through the 3 Patriarchs to Adam, meaning:

600,000/70/12/3 = 238.095

and

238.095 = 1/42

The atomic weight of

Uranium₂₃₈

These are just a few of the secrets revealed in just one of the Torah’s many chambers. But buried beneath this chamber of history is another chamber, with deeper secrets, with clues to the 4th Period of History, he one to come. We’ll open the seal on that chamber in our next post…

Ezra

Sukkot Once Again: Time to Revitalize and Nourish the 70 Nations.

This year, more than ever in our history, more than ever in the 3330 years since we entered the desert, it is imperative we make the Sukkot connections with conscious and utilize the G-d given technology to make the highest possible linkages to Binah/Moshiach for ourselves, for Israel and for the world. When we’re called to the Torah we’re supposed to channel and share our energy with the entire congregation. Even more so when we’re called before the King of Kings and receive his blessings and energy for the new year; we are suppose to share it with the whole world, hence the holiday of Sukkot. Through the proper meditations and the implementation of the ancient knowledge with the proper traditional technology the well-springs will open and flow for everyone.

We are repeating and updating below an article that we have posted over the years to explain many of the secrets and kavannot of the shakings of the lulov within the sukkah. This year, if we shake with our hearts we will shake the world awake and shake open the gates. Let’s do it together.

The Shakings

Regarding the daily shakings of the four species, there are 5 sets, each of which is done in the 6 directions of the cube, for a total of 30. This corresponds to the 30 blasts of the shofar in each set on Rosh Hashannah and the large letter Lamed(ל), which is spiritually connected to Binah and has the numerical value 30, that is found in the Torah reading just prior to Rosh Hashannah. The word Lamed (למד) has the numerical value of 74 or 70 +4, representing the 70 Nations, the 4 species, and the 4 exiles, and not coincidentally the large Ayin (ע) and Dalet (ד) of the values 70 and 4 respectively of the Shema.

That Lamed (ל) connects to the Lamed (ל)of Lulav (לולב). According to Abraham Avinu, it is also the letter Lamed(ל) that along with the letter Pe (פ) controls the month of Tishrei (Libra), the month in which we do both the shofar blowings and the shakings. It is also the lamed (ל)of the word Aleph (אלפ, the first), and when the controlling letters of Tishrei, the letters Lamed(ל) and Pe (פ) are completed with the letter Aleph (א) they spell out the word Aleph (אלפ), connecting them to keter and the beginning, as in Aleph B’Tishrei (permutated to spell Bereshit, the beginning). It also connects the month to premordial Aleph (א) and the upcoming 1000 (eleph, אלפ) years of Binah.

If you have not figured it out yet, most things in Kabbalah come in threes(3’s) or triplets, corresponding to the 3 column archetype of the our 3-dimensional universe. The 3 shakings that we make per each of the 6 directions of our essential cubic sukkah, correspond to the 3 beats per type of blast of the shofar that we just did on Rosh Hashannah. Therefore, there are 18 shakings in total per set, and as Rav Abraham Brandwein of blessed memory points out, “The Lulav hints at the vertebral column that has 18 vertebrae and every movement indicates vitality. Thus all 4 species need to be damp and alive and not dry.” The 18 shakings also corresponds to the value of the word, chai(חי), life. And straightening this connection is that the word value of lulav is 68, as in chaim (חיים),life and the Tree-of-life.

With 18 shaking per each of the 5 sets plus the shaking at the blessing there are 91 total shakings per day, which corresponds to teh numerical value of amen and the all-important unification of G-d’s Names the Tetragrammaton (YHVH) with Adonai (אהדונהי) that we should meditate on when we same Amen. 91 is most appropriately the value of the word Succah (סוכה)itself, which helps us to integrate the inner and outer light.

Moreover, at 30 daily shakings x 7 days, there are 210 total shakings, as in the 210 years of Egyptian exile. The 210 total shakings in the complete cycle of 7 days are very significant and are not coincidentally related to the 210 years of Egyptian exile. It is well known that the maximum height of a sukkah is 20 cubits, though what is concealed in that cubic space that is contained within that maximum 20 cubit cube are 20 concentric cubes, each diminished by 1 cubit at a time. In other words, there are 20 cubes within one another like Russian dolls: one of 20 cubits³, the next of 19 cubits³, then 18 through …1 cubit³. If these cubes were stacked on top of one another, we would have a towering stack of 20 cubes equal to 20+19+18…1, which equals 210 cubits in total height and 44,100 cubits³ in total volume. The number 20 (twenty) in Hebrew is written Esrim (עשרים) of numerical value 620, the same as the word, Keter, the highest dimension, and the same as the 620 letters in the 10 Commandments. This is like the Holy of Holies itself which measures 20 x 20 cubits square.

When we reach Keter in our counting or stacking from 1…18+19+20, we reach 210 levels, or years in the case of the Egyptian exile, so is it coincidental that we also reach the top of the Great Pyramid of Giza at exactly 210 levels and 210 cubits in height? The volume of those 20 cubes, 44,100 cubits³, is awfully evocative of the Hebrew word for truth, Emet of numerical value 441.

Why make this comparison? Because just as the pyramid was an antennae built to all the right codes and specifications, so is your sukkah. It is designed to help us end our exile and connect us to the highest levels, allowing us to tap into and share the pure and powerful energy of Binah.

Then when the 3 shakings per direction are considered over the full 7 days, there are 210 x 3 or 630 total shakings in the 7 days. 630 is 10 x 63, the value of the Tetragrammaton in the aspect of Binah. The number 10 always corresponds to the 10 sefirot (dimensions), and in this case to the 10 sub-dimensions (inner sefirot) within Binah. During the entire process of Sukkot, we’re drawing down the energy from Yesod of Ima (Binah) so we see how the overall Binah connections are very fitting and part and parcel to the technology involved in the shakings.

For these reasons it is very important to do the full 7 day cycle of shakings, and even though we do not physically handle the lulov and etrog we should go through the motions and meditations as if we were. This is what Rav Berg of blessed memory did and we diligently went through each one with their associated kavonot. This is what I suggest you do as well. It is 5778; it is time to utilize ALL of the technology available to us.

Over the 7 days of Sukkot, we’re making 70 sacrifices to share the energy with the 70 nations of the world. Each of these sacrifices corresponds to a specific one of the sub-sefirot in order as we descend through them during the 7 day period.

The 4 Species

Regarding the four species: As we know from the Arizal, the four species correspond to the 4 letters of the Tetragrammaton (יהוה): Hadas (י), Aravah (ה), lulav (ו) and Etrog (ה). So since the numerical values of Hadas and Aravah = 346 (שמו), and those two species correspond to (יה), they spell out “The Name YH(יה שמו).” The three sides of the sukkah itself forms the shape of the letter Bet (ב), completing the B’Y-H ShMV (ביה–שמו) sequence that comprise the 6 letters that occur at the top of the 248 columns of the Torah that are specifically not vavs(ו) and whose numerical value is that of H’Moshiach (the Messiah).

As for the lulov, it can be said that the word lulav (לולב) represents the entire Torah in two different ways since it begins with (ל) and ends in (ב) and since it also ends in the letter combination Lamed-Bet (לב), as in the first (ב) and last (ל) letters of the Torah. This letter reversal is an allusion to the recycling of the Torah that occurs during this period, when we read the last verse of the Torah and immediately twist it back to the beginning and read from Bereshit.

While the numerical value Hadas and lulov together (68+69) equals 137, the numerical value of kabbalah, meaning “to receive” and “parallel,” the numerical value of Hadas (הדס) and Aravah (ערבה) and lulov (לולב) together equals 414, which is twice the numerical value of Or, light, 2 x 207, thus representing the running and returning light.

As for the 4th species, the etrog (אֶתְרוֹג) has the numerical value 610, as in parnesa (sustenance) and ma’aser (tithing), and their corresponding kabbalistic meditations for drawing the Shefa into our lives. This numerical connection makes logical sense, considering that the Etrog corresponds to the malchut of yesod, the place where we earn our parnesa (sustenance).

Nevertheless, the total value of the 4 species (610+277+68+69) is 1024, which not only matches the 1024 unique word values in the Torah and is 32² , as in the 32 Paths of the Tree-of-Life, but is also representative of the number of vertices (points) on a 10-dimensional hypercube. In simpler terms the 4 species combined connect us to the 1024 portals of the Torah in the spiritual hyperspace (Binah). Moreover, not coincidentally 32 x 32 cubits is the measure of the Holy Alter in the center of the courtyards of the Third Temple.

Fortunately, this connection to the 1024 portals happens for us automatically once we incorporate that understanding into the consciousness of our shakings. To fulfill our responsibility of sharing the light with the 70 nations we can connect to the 4 final letters (בסהג) of the names of the 4 species, which add up to 70.

These connections that have existed as is for 3330 years are all the more imperative since the 4th exile is supposed to end 70 years after Israel became a nation in 1948 (5708), which would be this year, 5778 (2018 CE).

Given the importance of the sharing of the light with the 70 nations at the end of the 70th year, the letter Ayin (ע) with the numerical value 70 stands out as the 16th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, so it’s not coincidental that there are 16 letters in the names of the 4 species. The sum of the ordinal value of those 16 letters is 151, as in the value of the Name, Ehyeh (אהיה) spelled out (אלפ–הה–יוד–הה) which is the Name of G-d that it is at the level of Binah from where we are drawing down the energy into the 4 species. I highly suggest you use a kabbalistic siddur (prayer book) for doing the shakings in order to make the proper, purest, and highest connections. It is complicated technology and when we are going through the repeated circuits of the shakings we become one with the mechanism. It needs us at the center to manually do the movements and make the right visual connections to the associated Names of G-d and everything else is divinely driven.

Moreover, the sum of the ordinal value of the letters in lulav is 32, as in the numerical value of the letters Lamed and Bet (לב), which spells Lev, the Hebrew word for heart. This is another connection to the 32 paths of Wisdom, which is in essence the Tree-of-life (Etz Chaim), as represented on Sukkot by the lulav, whose standard gematria value is 68, which as we noted earlier is that of chaim (life).

We mentioned earlier that the Alter in the very center of the Courtyards of the Third Holy Temple is 32 x 32 cubits. Since the Inner Courtyard measure 100 x 100 cubits, the distance from the Alter to the edge of the Inner Courtyard is 68 cubits on all sides. So when stand in our sukkahs doing the shakings, we can connect to and imagine that we are at the central Alter in the Third Holy Temple and extending our lulavs outward, metaphorically and metaphysically, to the boundaries of the Inner Courtyard. The Third Holy Temple is already here spiritually and the more we connect to it the quicker it will be here physically.

The complete gematria value of the word Lulav (לולב) is 68 + 32 = 100, which is also the value of sach (סככ), the roof (covering) of the Sukkah, an extremely important component in the Sukkot technology. The sach represents keter, the highest sefira, and is evocative of the height of the Third Holy Temple, 100 cubits.

So when we shake the Lulav we not only want to bring it back to our heart, but we want to mediate on the light and love channeling back and forth through it, as we stand both in our succahs and in the center of the Third Temple, channeling for the entire world.

Now, if we add all the elements of the holiday together, we get 100 (Sach) + 91 (sukkah) + 1024 (4 species) = 1215, which as we discussed in our previous article is the numerical value of “70 Languages,” and therefore representative of the 70 Nations that sit on the branches of the Tree-of-Life waiting to be watered from our connections. Like the first 4 words of the Shema, the complete value of the first 9 letters of the Torah is also 1215, as are the 11 unique letters in the Torah’s first verse.

In the portion of the Torah read just prior to Sukkot, there are 11 extraneous dots over the letters, a phenomenon that occurs 10 times in the Torah. Now, while the last of those 11 letters in the words under the 11 dots is the letter ayin, with a value of 70, the complete value (standard and ordinal) of all 11 letters under the dots is 422, which is the exact numerical value of the word “seventy (70).” These, of course, connect to the destruction of the first Two Holy Temples in –422 BCE and in 70 CE, respectively, as has already been detailed and chronicled in The Divine Calendar.

Once again, it is our responsibility to mediate on sharing this light with the 70 Nations, and this is why we were blessed to be the channels and given these magnificent divine tools to use. As it says in Isaiah 56:7, ” I will bring them to My holy Mountain and make them rejoice in My House of Prayer…For My House will be called the House of Prayer for all the nations.”

These self-same 70 Nations are gathering this year to attack Israel, as the Zohar prophesied nearly 2000 years ago. Every manufactured twist in the world tension brings the world closer to global war and mayhem, yet by fulfilling our G-d given role, we can inject enough Binah consciousness into the world, and have mercy rain down instead.

Sukkot is usually the time of joy, when the energy of rejoicing is drawn down upon us by our actions within the succah for the entire year. This yea, it is the time of action, when what we do has the power to determine the sake of humanity. Evil and its conduit, the Erev Rav are running rampant throughout the world. Physically, it may be too late; spiritually, we have the tools we need to triumph. This Sukkot, let us put joy in our hearts; let us stand at the Alter of the Holy Temple as we stand within our Sukkahs; let us use the gyrating wand of the 4 species to channel the energy of Binah into our lives and out to the whole world; and let us bring Moshiach consciousness to the world once and for all.

Chag Sameach

Ezra

Goshen: Seeds Planted in the Darkness

The seeds are always planted before the crops, and often it’s not where they are planted it’s by whom.

In parsha Vayigash, 46:28 it says [Jacob] sent Judah ahead of him to make preparations in Goshen (Goshnah).” Goshen (Goshnah) has the same 4 letters as the Chanukah dreidle, and likewise they add up to 358, the numerical value of Moshiach. This is the area within Egypt and the Exile that Joseph arranged for his family and the Israelites to live. The name Goshen (גֹּשְׁנָה Goshnah) is only found twice in the Torah and hints at the two Mashiachs, Mashiach Ben Yosef and Mashiach Ben David, connected to Joseph and Judah respectively. By Joseph reuniting with Jacob, the spirit of Mashiach was restored, and the flow of mazal through Joseph could go to the Israelites, instead of the Egyptians who had been the previous beneficiaries.

The Torah is also telling us that the spirit of Mashiach can be anywhere, even in the darkness of Egypt if we stay connected to the source of the Light, which is a message we need to hear now, more than ever. But with Goshen(גֹּשְׁנָה GShNH), the Torah is also spelling out the travels of the Mishkan (the Tabernacle), whose final home was prepared by King David in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem: G for Givon; Sh for Shilo; and N for Nov.

And the name Goshen (גֹּשְׁנָה Goshnah) really tanslates to “toward Goshen” as the Torah is pointing us toward Mashiach. And the dreidle only spells out numerically Mashiach (גֹּשְׁנָה) outside of Israel. Inside Israel the letter Pe, for Po, here, is substituted for the Shin, just as Goshen is also outside Israel, in the land of exile.

King David was born 406 years after the Exodus from Egypt, corresponding to the spelled-out value of the Hebrew letter Tav (406) and since the Egyptian exile lasted 210 years, he was born 406 + 210 = 616 years after Jacob and his family first entered Egypt, with 616 corresponding to the numerical value of H’Torah, “The Torah.” If we separate the simple letter Tav (400) from H’Torah (התורה HTVRH), we’re left with a numerical value of 616-400 = 216, that of Gevura, the sefira (dimension) of judgment.

But 216 is also the number of letters in the 72 Names (Triplets) that were used in conjunction with the Shem Mem-Bet (the 42-Letter Name) to facilitate the splitting of the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds), which in effect ended the exile in Egypt. Indeed, the 72 Triplets are derived from the 3 consecutive verses of 72 letters each that describe the actual splitting, the only incidence of 3 consecutive 72 letter verses in the Torah. And just in case we were to think that the triple 72 was just a coincidence, we find that the sum of the 216 square roots of the 216 (72+72+72) letters is 720.0, and that’s a phenomenon that just doesn’t happen coincidentally.

But nothing happens without the seeds being planted first, and in parsha vayechi, where Jacob blesses his and Joseph’s children and thus the 12 tribes of Israel, and where in the last two verses of the Book of Bereshit, Joseph promises the Israelites that G-d will take them out of Egypt, we find that the numerical value of the portion’s first two words (וַיְחִי יַעֲקֹב vayechi Jacob) is 216.

Moreover, as Joseph was making that promise to his brothers and family, he gave them the clue to there salvation when he told them to take his bones out of Egypt with them, for as we know from chazal, it was only with the aid and protection of Joseph’s bones (essence) being with them, that the Egyptians couldn’t hurt them and the waters split.

This is important for us to understand, because all too often we try to do things on our own and we fail. The Zohar explains that the hardest thing for G-d to do is change someone’s mazal, and that mazal determines our sustenance, our children, and the length of our years. In other words, to each his lot, regardless of how pious, or many meditations, prayers, or sacred connections they make, or even how hard they work. If it’s so difficult for G-d, how much more so for us.

And the Israelites mazal depended on Joseph, who not only had an abundance of it but was a channel for sharing it as well. Indeed, it was Joseph’s bones that Pharaoh didn’t want to let go of, not so much the Israelites. What was about to happen, the revelation of the Torah at Sinai was so significant, that it took even more than the temporary unification of the Israelites, the 72 Triplets, the 42-Letter Name (Ana B’koach), Moses, and the will of G-d on earth. It took Joseph’s mazal in order to succeed.

Yes, G-d could have done it alone, but there are limits to what he wants to do for us, when we have it in our power to do for ourselves. How will our children learn to walk if we carry them everywhere we go? Indeed, when the Israelites stood before the sea, asking for a miracle in Shmot 14:15, G-d replied, מַה-תִּצְעַק אֵלָי Mah Tizak Elai, “Why are you crying out to me?” We had to do it ourselves. We had to overcome the illusions and tap into the Tree-of-life reality ourselves. The first letters in Mah Tizak Elai spell אמת Emet, truth; we had to see the truth for ourselves.

And so it is today. So let’s understand the Truth.

Within the word Goshen is a deeper secret, but to grasp it fully we need to understand that the reason the land of Goshen was reserved for Jacob was that Pharaoh had previously given it to Sarah.

Did you ever wonder about the strange incident when Abraham and Sarah went down to Egypt for food and he had Sarah pretend to be his sister when Pharaoh fell in love with her and wanted to take her, but G0d intervened. Well, one of the reasons was so Pharaoh could make a gift of Goshen to her while wooing her. As in our lives, nothing happens in the Torah without a reason.

As revealed in previous blogs, Sarah was directly connected with the Moshiach, and was the first to seed the garden of Moshiach, of Goshen. Abraham and Sarah were trying to make the exiles easier for all of us, and they did. And don’t forget it was Sarah, reincarnated as Queen Ester (according to the Arizal) who saved the Jews during the Babylonian exile.

That said, we can now explain that hidden in the word Goshen (GShNH), which we can interpret as Toward Moshiach is the word Shanah (ShNH) , meaning year (or time period), preceded by the letter gimmel (G) for 3, which hints a 3 time periods and the 3 Shanah (Shanah Shanah Shan’im)that we discussed etensively in the mysterious verse Bereshit 23:1, Sarah’s verse that referred to the time of Mashiach. As further hinted at in the 4 letters of Goshen (GShNH), and of Moshiach (MShYCh) and of the YHVH, there are 4 specific exiles cited by chazal, but they cover only 3 time frames, since the Greek Exile existed while the Second Temple stood.

The first Exile began 70 years after Abraham’s birth in 1948 HC, and lasted 430 years from the Covenant of Abraham in 2018 HC to the Exodus from Egypt and the reception of the Torah at Sinai in 2448. This first exile included the more well known 210 years of the Exile in Egypt. The second exile, the exile in Babylonia, began after the destruction of the First Temple in 3338 HC, and lasted 70 years, when Ezra brought the Israelites back to Jerusalem and began constructed the Second Temple. The 4th Exile, the Roman exile, is the current one and it began in 70 CE, when the Romans destroyed the Second Temple. And it is supposed to last 1948 years until 2018 CE and indeed the start of the final 70 year period began with the statehood of Israel in 1948 CE.

The beautiful divine symmetry here is well documented in The Divine Calendar, but what still needs to be pointed out is that the sum of the 3 separate time period exiles is 430 + 70 + 1948 = 2448, as in the 2448 years from Adam to the reception of the Torah at Sinai.

But it gets better, because not only is the 3rd exile, the Greek exile, hinted at in the 3 shanah of Sarah, whose collective ordinal value is 138 as in the year 138 BCE, when that exile ended, but since it began in 318 BCE ( a not so subtle link to Abraham’s 318 men who defeated armies, or the small gematria value of Mashiach 5318), it lasted 180 years, as in the 180 years of Isaac, Abraham and Sarah’s son.

If we add the additional 180 years to the 2448 years of the other 3 exiles, we get a total 2628 years for the 4 exiles, and as explained in The Genesis Prayer, 2628 is not only the sum of all the recurrences of the Torah’s 4th and 2nd words, (ET and BRE), but is also the sum of the positive integers through 72, two not so subtle links to the 42 Letter Name and the 72 Names, tools, if used properly to help us through the exiles, and especially to end them.

Once again, we must wake up to realize that everything in life and in the Torah has a purpose. Right after G-d created heaven and Earth in the Torah’s first verse, he alluded to the 4 exiles in the Torah second verse. Genesis 1:2: The Earth was without Form, and Empty, with darkness on the face of the depths.” It was then followed by “but G-d’s spirit moved on the water’s surface. God said, Let there be Light…”

We know from chazal that the 42-Letter Name, the understanding through which the Mashiach will come, corresponds to the Torah’s first 42 letters and thus bridges the divine creation and the exiles: 1) without Form-Egypt; 2) and empty-Babylonia; 3) darkness-Greek; 4) the depths-Rome. While, the Torah hints that the Light will come after each exile, it also hints that we are currently in the depths, which has a numerical value of 451, the same as Ishmael. Now we know from the Zohar that the current exile is that of Rome, which is also Edom, the exile amongst the Christian nations, we see that it was also ordained to be at the hands of the Ishmaelites, the Moslem nations.

While Abraham saw the prophecies fulfilled that both his sons would be great nations, Sarah knew how difficult it would be for her children and convinced Abraham to send Ishmael into the desert. But G-d has his plans and the exiles occurred as scheduled, with the 430 years of the full Egyptian exile corresponding to the exact numerical value of “without form and empty (THV V’BHV).” So Sarah prepared the ground for us, and continued to nurture us along the way.

But there comes a time when the plants have to fend for themselves, when the children grow up and make their own decisions. It’s wonderful to have parents like Abraham and Sarah, but now we have to fight our own battles. G-d and the Torah have given us all the tools we need. If we choose not to use them; if we choose not to take responsibility for getting ourselves and our brethren out of the exile, G-d’s time frames will play out anyway. pretending we don’t see the steep slopes of of the abyss we’re at the bottom of wont make them any easier to climb.

Yes, climb we must. This exile had 1948 years of descent; that’s a long way back up for us to make in only 9 short years, which is why down here on the floor of the abyss things are getting so bleak. Because G-d knows that it’s only out of true desperation that Man will climb up and try to save himself. Just look to the prior exiles and you’ll see: Pharaoh kept upping the ante on brick-making for the Jews to decide they’d had enough; the Babylonians were an edict and day away of killing all the Jews before the Jews found unity; and the Greeks had to desecrate the Holy Temple with idols nearly wiped out all the Jewish ways before they revolted. But once they did make up their minds to fight there way out, G-d sent them the leaders and the means.

This exile gave us endless oppression and tragedy and moreover endless distractions. It gave us the Holocaust, where 6 million Jews gave there lives, and from that depth new leaders and Israel arose in 1948 CE, our ladder out of the abyss. But the climb for the last and final 70 years has proven treacherous at best and the path fraught with danger and illusory distractions that keep causing us to lose our footing.

G-d is by our side and routing for us, but He will not do it for us. Had that been his plan there would have been no need for exiles in the first place. For guidance, we must look to the tools He has given us, see what saved the Israelites in the past exiles. Our ancestors went through so that we would be saved. Let’s learn from them. And the first lesson is unity and loving-kindness for one another.

And the second lesson is that there are no easy roads out. Beware if someone offers you false hope of light at end of the darkness without hard work; that’s not the path of the Light. The path of the true Light is the path of the righteous and it’s the hardest path. But for those that want to see Moshiach, experience the geula (final redemption) reach the Tree-of-life reality, it’s the only path.

Let’s turn the seeds of Goshen (גֹּשְׁנָה GShNH) into Gan Hashem גן השם and finish what Abraham and Sarah started.